The 20 year old has been a big success since breaking into the Athletic Bilbao first team set-up two years ago but his side’s poor start to the campaign could leave the youngster vulnerable to offers for his services.

Arsene Wenger lost Thomas Vermaelen to Barcelona and Bacary Sagna to Man City and with a number of player’s suffering with niggling injuries and German international Per Mertesacker experiencing a poor run of form one can see why the north London club would be keen on Laporte.

The San Mames star is on the fringes of the senior French national team set-up having regularly turned out for the Under 21 side and has already racked up 81 appearances for this La Liga side.